This article was first published in U of T Magazine in December 2016 and is re-posted here with full permission. Why are some first names such as Michael and Olivia popular year after year, but you never meet anyone named “Seven” or “Soda”? What we call ourselves – and why – … [Read more...]
Transgender Identity and the Significance of Name-Changing
Since the 1990’s, there has been a significant increase of transgenderism in the public domain. Increased media visibility with multiple reports on a variety of issues have surfaced, from questions of choice, normality, transidentity to name only a few. These have been discussed … [Read more...]
When a Culture is No Longer Inclusive: Name-Changing and the Unfortunate Compulsion to Lie About Who We Are
Our name is like an elongated shadow attached at our heels. A tenacious sign of identification, it is intimately connected with our identification. While our first name is given to us lovingly and tenderly by our parents (or parent surrogates), our surname connects us to our … [Read more...]
Parth Shah Discusses Living With a Name That Is Difficult to Pronounce
In this interesting Hyphen episode, Parth Shah, an Indian-American journalist highlights the daily difficulties encountered by Asian-Americans living with names that are difficult to pronounce. Several interviewees discuss the origins of their names and the question of … [Read more...]